The present invention relates generally to paperboard carriers for use in packaging articles such as beverage bottles, and more particularly to a basket-style carrier formed from a single blank and has a carrier handle connected to a carrier end wall through a reinforced joint. The invention is particularly useful to provide a basket-style carrier having a seamless end wall while using minimum amount of paperboard.
Basket-style paperboard carriers made from a single blank are well known. These carriers are formed from blanks that are cut and scored from paperboard or other foldable sheet material. It is common that the blanks for making basket-style carriers have an irregular shape, such as having a large protuberance extending off to one side. For example, some carrier blanks for basket-style carriers are generally L-shaped. Some carrier blanks include large open spaces. Such an irregular shape results in a considerable amount of waste paperboard, which leads to substantial inefficiency and unnecessarily high costs in the manufacture of such a blank and a basket-style carrier assembled therefrom. One of the solutions of this problem is to provide blanks having the outline that is similar to a rectangle. An example of such an approach can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,677. The carrier blank of this patent has rows of component panels arranged side by side. The panels are so arranged that the carrier in an erected form has a handle connected to each end wall by a single glue tab. This is of disadvantage because the glue tab provides a joint that is not as strong as desirable.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need yet remains for a basket-style carrier and a blank therefore which minimize the amount of paperboard necessary to make such a carrier or blank and still provide a strong joint between the carrier handle and each end wall. It is to the provision of such a carrier and a blank therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.
In meeting the foregoing needs, the present invention provides a basket-style carrier formed from a single blank. The carrier comprises substantially parallel first and second side walls, substantially parallel first and second end walls interconnecting the side walls, and a composite handle structure disposed between the first and second side walls and extending between the first and second end walls. The handle structure includes first and second handle panels secured together in a juxtaposed relationship. A first securing member is hingedly connected to the first handle panel and is adhesively secured to the inside surface of the first end wall to create a joint between the handle structure and the first end wall. Further, a first joint-reinforcing member is hingedly connected to the second handle panel, and it is adhesively secured to the inside surface of the first end wall. According to the invention, the handle structure is connected to the first end wall not only by the securing member but also by the joint-reinforcing member which strengthen the joint created by the securing member.
In a preferred embodiment, a first transverse partition member may be hingedly connected to both the first handle panel and the first side wall while a second transverse partition member is hingedly connected to the second handle panel and the second side wall. The first partition member provides a transverse partition extending between the handle structure and the first side wall while the second partition member provides a transverse partition extending between the handle structure and the second side wall.
In another preferred embodiment, a third handle panel may be secured to the first and second handle panels in a juxtaposed relationship to create the handle structure. A second securing member may be hingedly connected to the second handle panel and adhesively secured to the inside surface of the second end wall to create a joint between the handle structure and the second end wall. A second joint-reinforcing member may be hingedly connected to the third handle panel and adhesively secured to the inside surface of the second end wall. In this embodiment, at least one of the first and second end walls may be symmetrical in shape. Alternatively or at the same time, the second end wall may be a seamless panel. The second handle panel may be hingedly connected at its one end to the second securing member and at its other end to the first joint-reinforcing member. Optionally, the first joint-reinforcing member may hingedly connect between the second handle panel and the second side wall, and the second securing member may hingedly connect between the second handle panel and the second end wall. The third handle panel may be hingedly connected at its one end to the first handle panel and at its other end to the second joint-reinforcing member.
The present invention also provides a carrier blank for making a basket style carrier. The blank comprises an elongate medial section having formed therein first and second side wall panels and first and second end wall panels, a first exterior section formed alongside the medial section and having formed therein a plurality of handle panels. The handle panels are adapted to form a composite carrier handle structure in an erected form of the blank. The handle panels comprise a first handle panel and a second handle panel that is arranged at one end of the first exterior section. A first securing member hingedly interconnects the first handle panel and the first end wall panel. In an erected form of the blank, the first securing member may be secured to the first end wall panel to create a joint between the handle structure and the first end wall panel. A first joint-reinforcing member is hingedly connected to the second handle panel and arranged next to one end of the medial section. The first joint-reinforcing member may be secured to the first end wall panel to reinforce the joint when the blank is erected into a carrier. This blank provides an erected carrier wherein the composite handle structure is connected to the first end wall panel through a strengthened joint that is provided by the securing member and the joint-reinforcing member.
In a preferred embodiment, the first joint-reinforcing member may be disposed transversely of the axis of elongation of the medial section and spans at least in part the medial section.
In another preferred embodiment, the first end wall panel, the first side wall panel, the second end wall panel and the second side wall panel may be arranged in the described sequence. In this embodiment, a first transverse partition member may hingedly interconnect the first handle panel and the first side wall panel while a second transverse partition member hingedly interconnects the second handle panel and the second side wall panel.
In another preferred embodiment, the plurality of handle panels may further comprise a third handle panel arranged at the other end of the first exterior section. A second joint-reinforcing member may be hingedly connected to the third handle panel and arranged next to the other end of the medial section so that when the blank is erected into a finished carrier, the second joint-reinforcing member may be secured to the second end wall panel. Optionally, a second securing member may hingedly interconnect the second handle panel and the second end wall panel. The second securing member is adapted to be secured to the second end wall panel to create a joint between the handle structure and the second end wall panel when the blank is erected into a carrier. It is preferred that the second joint-reinforcing member is disposed transversely of the axis of elongation of the medial section and spans at least in part the medial section.
In a further preferred embodiment, a second securing member may hingedly interconnect the second handle panel and the second end wall panel. The second securing member may be secured to the second end wall panel to create a joint between the handle structure and the second end wall panel when the blank is erected into a finished carrier. The second handle panel may be hingedly connected at one end thereof to the second securing member and at the other end thereof to the first joint-reinforcing member.
In a still further preferred embodiment, the second side wall panel may be arranged at the one end of the medial section, and the first joint-reinforcing member may also be hingedly connected to the second side wall panel.
In a still further preferred embodiment, the first end wall panel may be arranged at the other ends of the medial section, and the third handle panel may be arranged at a location flanking the first end wall panel. Alternatively or at the same time, the third handle panel may be hingedly connected at one end thereof to the first handle panel and at the other end thereof to the second joint-reinforcing member.
In a still further preferred embodiment, a second exterior section may be formed alongside the medial section and positioned opposite the first exterior section. The second exterior section may include first and second bottom panels formed therein. The first and second bottom panels may be hingedly connected to the first and second side panels respectively.